Victor Frankenstein, driven by a desire to transcend natural limits, assembles a humanoid creature from dead matter. Horrified by his creation, he abandons it, prompting the being to seek revenge for its isolation. The narrative follows the catastrophic fallout of this broken bond, moving from the icy Arctic to the serene Swiss Alps, as creator and creation are locked in a mutual pursuit of ruin.
After a long struggle with his conscience, Victor agreed to the task. He extracted a solemn oath that the pair would quit Europe forever once the female was created. Ecstatic, the Creature swore by the elements of nature to vanish and fled the mountain with incredible speed. Left alone as night fell, Victor descended the glacier slowly, overwhelmed by anguish. He wept bitterly, feeling mocked by the stars and wind, and longed for oblivion. He arrived home looking haggard and wild, alarming his family but unable to speak. Feeling alienated, as if under a curse, Victor resolved to sacrifice his own morals and perform the loathsome labor to ensure the safety of those he loved.
Though Victor had sworn to fulfill the creature’s demand, the weight of his promise paralyzed him upon returning to Geneva. The prospect of creating another being filled him with such revulsion that he grasped at any pretext to delay, even as his father’s hopes for his marriage pressed upon him.
Upon returning to Geneva, Victor found himself paralyzed by the task he had promised to undertake. Day after day passed as he struggled to summon the courage to begin creating a female companion for the creature. He feared the vengeance of the fiend, yet his repugnance to the work was insurmountable. He rationalized his delay by convincing himself that he needed to consult an English philosopher whose discoveries were vital to his success, clinging to this pretense to avoid the first step. As he neglected his promise, his health and spirits surprisingly improved. He spent solitary days on the lake, watching the clouds and listening to the waves, finding a degree of composure that pleased his father but was merely a temporary respite from his underlying gloom.
Alphonse Frankenstein, observing his son’s restored yet fluctuating demeanor, believed the root of his misery lay in his romantic prospects. He confronted Victor, suggesting that an immediate marriage to Elizabeth would dispel his melancholy. He worried that Victor might view Elizabeth only as a sister or be secretly in love with another. Victor trembled at the suggestion, for the idea of immediate union was one of horror and dismay. He assured his father of his tender love for Elizabeth, but internally he recoiled, knowing he was bound by a solemn promise he had not yet fulfilled. He could not marry with the threat of the creature hanging over him, nor could he perform the loathsome task in his father’s house where a loss of self-command might expose his secret to those he loved.
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